The origin of Lantern Festival is 300 words.
Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, also known as Lantern Festival and Spring Festival, is a traditional folk festival in China. The first month is the first month of the lunar calendar. The ancients called it "Xiao", and the fifteenth day is the first full moon night in a year, so the fifteenth day of the first month is called the Lantern Festival. Also known as the first lunar month, Lantern Festival or Lantern Festival, it is the first important festival after the Spring Festival. China has a vast territory and a long history, so the customs of celebrating the Lantern Festival are different all over the country, among which eating Yuanxiao, watching lanterns and dancing dragons and lions are several important folk customs.
The formation of Lantern Festival custom has a long process. According to historical data and folklore, the fifteenth day of the first month was paid attention to in the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sacrificed "Taiyi" (Taiyi: the God who rules everything in the world) in Ganquan Palace on the first night of the first month, which was regarded by later generations as the forerunner of offering sacrifices to the gods on the fifteenth day of the first month. However, the fifteenth day of the first month is indeed a folk festival after the Han and Wei Dynasties. The introduction of Buddhist culture in the Eastern Han Dynasty is of great significance to the formation of Lantern Festival customs.
As early as more than 2,000 years ago, when Emperor Wendi was in power, he ordered the fifteenth day of the first month to be named Lantern Festival. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the sacrificial activities of "Taiyi God" were scheduled for the 15th day of the first month. When Sima Qian created the taichu calendar Law, he had already identified the Lantern Festival as a major festival. Another way of saying it is that the custom of burning lanterns in Lantern Festival originated from the "ternary theory" of Taoism; The fifteenth day of the first month is Shangyuan Festival, the fifteenth day of July is Zhongyuan Festival, and the fifteenth day of October is Xiayuan Festival. The officials in charge of the upper, middle and lower elements are heaven, earth and man respectively. The celestial officials are happy and the Lantern Festival should be lit.
Lantern Festival began in the period of Emperor Han Ming in the East. Ming Di advocates Buddhism. It is said that on the fifteenth day of the first month, the monks watched the Buddhist relics and lit lamps to worship Buddha, so they ordered to light lamps to worship Buddha in palaces and temples that night, so that all cremated people and ordinary people could hang lamps. Later, this Buddhist ceremonial festival gradually formed a grand folk festival.